Messages

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Crystal Oscillator for pc engine]

I got my crystals from china, too! True story.

Pre charged?

When I charged my crystals this is all that happened.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Turbo Gouging on Ebay ( r.i.p. - gouging much )]

I was just trying to point out the only "policy" I know of regarding signatures and value influence. Which is a little weird when you think about it. There are lots of ways folks have verified signatures on things in the past, musicians, artists, actors etc. Some game designers do signings like the MGS stuff I have signed, but I guess that it's tough enough to verify most people's signatures that VGA would rather not bother trying. They actually lower the value because it's written on.

Now I'm never planning to sell my signed MGS3... but it's awfully funny to me that something they ought to be able to verify, they treat as damage because they don't even want to try. It's weird enough seeing rarebucky try to sell something he doesn't have wrapped up in a VGA case.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Turbo Gouging on Ebay ( r.i.p. - gouging much )]

Vic Ireland sold this game to me personally and was kind enough to sign it.

So now I'm flipping it for hundreds of dollars.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Parasol-Stars-Bubble-Bobble-III-TurboGrafx-16-NEW-SEALED-SIGNED-SUPER-RARE-/121709716261?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c5676e325

I'm surprised he didn't VGA it.

But then I think it's VGA policy on grading that a signed game actually LOWERS its value, so maybe I shouldn't be surprised. Maybe a bad time to mention I have a few Metal Gear Solid things signed by Kojima & Shinkawa.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: spreading tg16 like a virus]

http://www.retroist.com/2008/12/09/1986-sears-catalog-nes-on-one-page/

From the 1986 sears christmas catalog: $90 with two controllers and SMB.

My brother's NES Control Deck certainly didn't come with SMB, I know this because I still have the box and everything. It did come with the game guide book someone else mentioned here, which I thought was the most useless and stupid thing. I didn't pull the price my brother paid out of my rear, I remember quite vividly disbelieving that he was ready to spend that kind of money on the thing, and I've come across multiple sources giving the same MSRP. (Two links there, not one.) Additionally, I remember more than once, calling Sears for a mail order item where the catalogue price was steeply discounted from their store prices. At least one time I was told that they could not honor a price as it was listed in their catalogues, with some nonsense about it not being available despite it being all over their toy shelves, but I would put it to you that this, being a Sears catalogue page, is most likely a sale if indeed legitimate.

At any rate, it still would not have made sense to launch the Turbo in the USA as early as either 1987 or 1988, for all those reasons. For the tech involved and establishing itself with its new market, it would have cost even more than the $199 it launched with if it were to debut that early, and still be hobbled with all the disadvantages it had in its time in the states.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: spreading tg16 like a virus]

Your NES prices are incorrect.  The basic set (NES, two controllers, and no game) came out in '87 and was $90.

Says who? At any rate, my brother bought his NES Control Deck (an NES, two controllers and no game) in fall 1987--and the price was exactly what that wiki states.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: spreading tg16 like a virus]

I'm really unsure why there is much debate going on here. Prices of these things at launch is very known and easily confirmbable. The situations were pretty clear, as well. It gives a lot of "oh, well that's the reason" hindsight, to be sure, but still.

I don't know how anyone could imagine remembering in 1987, or 1988 for that matter, that Nintendo was not completely dominating the scene. Yes, the NES was first available in the USA in 1985. October 1985. Who actually had one of these things in 1985? Nobody I knew at the time. It was a very expensive piece of kit and Nintendo was pushing the R.O.B. Hard. And failing, yeah, but they were also pushing it with the Light Gun for Duck Hunt/Hogan's Alley. So the fallback at the time was the Control deck. One NES console and two gamepads and nothing else. My brother got that basic system in fall 1987, and had to shell out another $40 to get Super Mario Bros. along with it. So now imagine it's 1987, the NES is available in a basic set with two gamepads for $199 and no game... it's almost two years since it first came out and that's still the standard retail price, and everyone, everyone is eating it up and asking for seconds. So in your fantasy here comes a TurboGrafx-16 to the USA market the same year. Do you really think that with the 1987 library it would have stood a chance? Hell no! Same price, one gamepad, complete unknown titles, and most importantly the NES was hot at this point in time with no lack of steam propelling it forward into the 90s. It would have been completely insane for NEC or for anyone to look at the market as it was in the USA at that point in time and say, hey we would really like to take Nintendo on. The 1985 launch of the NES was actually a bit of a stall for the lack of software and a general "wait and see" approach from both consumers and retailers, the 1982 crash was just so hard financially that nobody honestly believed new (and better) games had much of a chance.

As for 1989, well, the library was there, at least in the fact that it existed. It just helped them almost not at all when so many titles were not localized (complete Japanese, or just obscure themes alien to Americans), and absolutely detrimental when none of the Nintendo ported titles were available to them to market to America (or the rest of the world). Being ten dollars more expensive than the Sega Genesis MSRP, well that hurt. It hurt even more when Sega was proud enough to put graphics of their game directly on the front of the box; Sega, after at least half a decade of getting stomped by Nintendo in sales, had figured out how to market themselves well as a more upscale, higher-end alternative. The TurboGrafx-16 advertising at every turn had a very MTV appearance to it, and while this was intentional as they wanted to promote it as the next cool thing, it failed with the mindshare gain Sega got by fronting better graphical features so well. Another thing that hurt, not only no second controller, but no means to plug one in without doing what? Spending more money. When you market to kids, who either mow lawns to get their own stuff or beg their parents for birthday/holiday gifts, this kind of piecemealing does not go over well. The TurboBooster was perceived by a lot of folks at the time as an unnecessary oddity despite its benefit, it just seemed like a money grab, and well, $399 for the Turbo CD... who is going to spend $600+ (199+399 & tax) for a complete set? This is now Neo Geo territory and as a home console that was pretty well a not a contender for #1. Some of this is understandable. Being so very Japanese, with a more solitary gameplay experience a single pad port makes sense. But when American kids pile in front of the TV at sleepovers, the one-pad system is at a disadvantage. The investment of localization was something that the original developers of PC Engine titles at the time were not only not interested in, they really weren't well prepared to do it in the first place. Considering how many titles NEC localized all on their own, they really were doing a vast amount of work putting things together in a way that an American could enjoy. Trouble is, they were doing it with Cyber-Core, instead of say Download, although for the obvious reason that it was a lot easier to do.

The amazing thing is the turnaround, at least for those who jumped in despite all that. Game prices for the system tended to drop quickly, much more quickly than either NES or Genesis games. Witness typical pricetags for the standalone console only a year or so later, although the real discount didn't hit til TTi lit the fire-sale to sacrifice for the coming of the TurboDuo. And the Japanese market just continued to crank out games with every arcade port, NES port, or whatever oddity they could dream up, the cheapness of CD-ROM game manufacturing led to low import game prices and the huge selection of arcade games meant little in the way of a language barrier to stop someone from trying things out.

Still, all the while that things were leading to this, the NES market was simply raging. From the beginning before USA launch, to the very end, the roadblock their competition had forced them to drive the backroads.  Some things could have been fixed easily (second controller port, AV output built-in without add-ons), others were not so easily fixed (fewer 2-player titles, difficult localization) and many out of their control (other companies with advertisers steamrolling the business, legal obligations limiting available titles.). The unique set of circumstances that dealt NEC the cards they played had as much to do with their relative lack of sales as it did with the esoteric library of high quality games over time. Honestly, I think that entire melange is the very reason the platform has the legs it does so far past its prime. It's almost like this secret underground console that popped its head out in the winter, saw its shadow and retreated, not seen in the wild again. Put it another way, would you really prefer it if your Turbo were more... Sonical than Bonkified? Think about it.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Turbo Express Composite Out Issues]

Ah okay that makes sense then. Might be better off with another screen in that case, even if it has the text at start.

Nobody has a tut for screen replacement, a pin reference chart, anything?

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Turbo Express Composite Out Issues]

My TurboExpress has the capacitor blues and I've already ordered a cap kit to fix it, but I'm thinking about diving in with a screen upgrade while I have the thing open. I can't find a tut to do this anywhere on the board however, anybody got a linky handy?

Turbokon: what is an asylic screen, why is it needed?? All the screens you linked here look dope but I like that last one for not showing the AV1 etc.

[High Score Records / Re: "Gate of Thunder" High Scores]

Thank you, someone please update the OP, any real high score for this game is going to be done on Devil mode and you are just not going to get over 2 million without it. I am still practicing and sucking hard just to get close to where I was with this game when I was 22. The 3 million barrier is crazy. And I had it down to a science with allowing the missile-firing enemies to flood the screen with their fire before laying waste, but still only got 2.8/2.9 million scores almost every game, for AGES. Destroying all the enemies is easy, destroying every projectile they can fire at you while still allowing them enough time on-screen to fire them all? That is tough, very tough.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Turbo Gouging on Ebay ( r.i.p. - gouging much )]

Report him. You know you want to.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: rarer titles up on ebay....]

I contacted them to ask if they had others the might be willing to list before the went up on e-bay. If I could have worked a deal and they saved on fees then great. I was only trying to get a crack at them before open market.

Okay, but that's not a break? Sounds like exactly the break you are looking for.

Does not mean that I would not be willing to pay a fair price? No, I would have. However a price beyond e-bay norms is not a fair price.

But they are selling on ebay. How is that not fair? That you don't get first crack?

And you are?

I've just come to read the meter, about like you I expect.

You should read before making an assumption.

I only asked based on what he said.

He said he asked if they had others to sell. Trust me dude he does not need a break.

How is his first crack, what he was looking for, not a break? How is this not related to the price he wants to get or that they stand to sell stuff for?

Maybe he was looking for a better copy? or maybe just maybe he knows the pricing E-bay has and offered to same money and not have E-bay take 10% you have no idea about who Boom is. A golden rule you will learn here real fast, like the rest of us did, think before you post :-)

Have a nice day.

Whoa there, Tex, stand down. These guys are selling on ebay. Their sales are intrinsically linked to the prices on ebay. It's the whole reason there is ever any bellyaching over collectible prices in the first place. You have no idea who the sellers are. You don't know that they're perfectly okay dropping 10% to ebay, or is it supposed to be a privilege to sell to madboom? Hell, what if they just haven't moved their stuff out of storage and don't want to be bothered? Inventory can be a bitch sometimes. But complaining that someone won't sell to you directly so let them eat ebay fees is all kinds of backwards, the only injured party here is madboom, smacks a little hypocrisy to these eyes.

Thanks for the well-wishes though, I'm definitely having a nice day. Off to the hospital, wife giving birth.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PC Engine -> USB pad converters]

I just might take you up on that, but does anybody have any experience that can answer to the above? I'd hate to think that I went to the trouble for a pad converter if I couldn't replicate the good old TurboPad's turbo switches.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: What are your top 5 shoot 'em up games for the TG-16/PC Engine?]

Download 2
Final Soldier (the best Soldier, yeah, I went there)
R-TYPE Ccomplete CD
Rayxanber 2
Gradius 2

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: When did cotton become...]

Not the only telling comment, imo.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: rarer titles up on ebay....]

Both of the those sellers were just plain looking for the highest buck... I contacted them both and asked if they had others to sell. Both responded with now you are looking for a break huh? That's ok though, let them pay the e-bay fees...

So you weren't looking for a break? Not even a go before listings? That's why you contacted them, just to have the same footing as any bidder?

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Turbo Gouging on Ebay ( r.i.p. - gouging much )]

Cliche descriptions are cliche. Stupid descriptions are stupid. Stupid pricing is stupid.

Still, this is the best copy of MC that I've seen since I saw one inside the shrinkwrap.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Turbo Gouging on Ebay ( r.i.p. - gouging much )]

Trust me, it's high.

Didn't Terraforming go for $750 a few weeks back? Super Air Zonk as well? I ain't saying that's chump change.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Turbo Gouging on Ebay ( r.i.p. - gouging much )]

Yeah. He has what looks like high-ish BINs, but that's just the BIN, no idea what the reserve is. And the BIN isn't far off from what some of those have gone for recently.

Wow! since when did Cotton become so expensive?

Looks like it became that expensive at May-21-14 22:01:55 PDT, when someone offered to pay at least $605.99.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Turbo Gouging on Ebay ( r.i.p. - gouging much )]

I suppose they're talking about this guy. How dare he, right?

[High Score Records / Re: "Gate of Thunder" High Scores]

Overall Score (Normal Mode)

#1 Shubibiman: 1,770,100
#2 Elnino: 1,760,800
#3 geise: 1,727,800 - 1 Life Clear
#4 Keranu: 1,642,900
#5 Tatsujin: 1,458,500
#6 rag-time4: 526,000
#7 blueraven: 485,100
#8 ceti_alpha: 438,900

This is hitting the wayback machine here, and no, I don't have a screenshot to post. Yet. But all of these scores are extremely low. In order to max out your score for this game you NEED to play it on Devil mode. If you do this, scores on the order of 2.3 to 2.6 million are commonplace on a 1CC game. From there, if you strategically hold your fire in order to build up enemies onscreen, particularly with ones that fire missiles and such which you can destroy for additional points, then you can amass scores from 2.7 to 2.9 million. I learned this way, way back in the day when playing this game on Normal or even on Hard mode had turned into a cakewalk.

Late in 1994, I was playing this game on a lark at a friend's place, not serious about it or anything, but just playing using the strategy that I laid out above as it was more challenging that way. When I finished, after the multiplier totaled up the score, I had broken 3 million points. I had literally attempted to do that for half a year and was beginning to believe that it might be impossible, all of my best scores were always over 2.9 million. I jumped up and bounced off the walls for a good five minutes. But I had no camera and no Tennokoe Bank, which would have been more ideal than a screenshot for me. It took me a few months to save up and locate a Tennokoe Bank to buy from the good ol' Turbolist, and by the time I had received it from Japan, my friend had pawned his TurboDuo in order to pay his rent.

I guess now I need to buckle down again and put up the proof, yeah?

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: can somebody educate me on the story behind magical chase?]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned it here, but the American TTi release of Magical Chase is slightly different from the Japanese one, and not just because it's translated. The graphics were changed, backgrounds and some enemies are different, there may have been some other differences that I'm not remembering (slowdown instead of flicker? More enemies on screen? I could swear I remember reading something about that but I can't recall exactly and I never owned this game). Magical Chase may not have been strictly speaking a "limited" run, but being a TTi release I would expect there to be a lot less of it than the Japanese PC Engine version. Sometimes the opposite happens. Changes happen with the American version, and everybody yearns for the Japanese original, which might maintain a higher price tag over time. This one went the other way, probably at least as much for being done in the twilight of the American platform.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: PCE Golden Axe]

Maybe I missed it but what is the planned distribution for this? Just a torrent or a download or, what?

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: PCE Golden Axe]

 

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: PC Engine -> USB pad converters]

Yeah, I had come across that one as well. I can solder well enough but with two tykes now I don't have the free time that I used to, which is why I was leaning toward the other. Still, I just can't get used to the feel of other pads for PC Engine games, the feel of the buttons and the rapid fire just do it for me like no other. Playing Bonk on anything less is just not the same.

Edit: Came across this testimonial, googling around.

I have the retroUSB one in the 1st link above. It works really good but the turbo switches don't really work. They work, but the repeat is so slow they are of no use.

That makes the retroUSB a definite no-no for me, as this is one feature I absolutely want to preserve. Still, it makes me wonder, does the raphnet circuit have the same or a similar problem? Anyone?

[Console Repair/Mod Center / PC Engine -> USB pad converters]

Does anybody have a source on these? I've been looking at ways to use my PC Engine pads with my computer. I came across this: http://www.brunofreitas.com/node/41
Seems fairly comprehensive, including several systems in the mix, which drives the price up a bit, but I haven't really found any other method apart from pulling my sleeves back and rolling my own. Everybody is just using an XBox pad for their computers nowadays or what?